Jill's Crazy Couscous

“I was sitting at home on a rainy night not really wanting to cook anything major but I wanted something healthy since I had just worked out. I wasn’t sure what I had a taste for until I saw the box of whole wheat garlic and olive oil couscous in the pantry. It’s one of my favorite staples since I usually have it for lunch chilled with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and vinaigrette. Sounds good, right? But I, I usually don’t eat couscous hot, so l went through my fridge to see how I could make this work. Oh, I made it work and one beautiful mistake actually made the dish! I never intended to add white wine until I accidently turned on the wrong burner and burned the bottom of the couscous pan. I added white wine to ”deglaze” as the fancy food folk like say and wow, what do you know…it made it awesome!  It was the best dish I had all week, and without the guilt. And I even treated myself to an extra glass of wine!” —Jill

You’ll need:

1 box whole wheat couscous

3 roma tomoatoes

1 bag fresh spinach

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

1 small container kalamata olives from salad bar

½ cup parmesan cheese, and additional for topping

Red pepper flakes, a pinch

Olive oil

Black pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

1 cup white wine

Slice tomatoes, coat lightly with olive oil, add some salt and pepper and roast in oven for 25 minutes on 350 degrees.

While the tomatoes are roasting, go once around a frying pan with olive oil and add the olives, artichoke hearts, cheese, white wine, pepper, and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer.

In a small saucepan, follow directions for cooking the couscous. While that’s cooking, add the entire package of fresh spinach to artichoke mixture until spinach wilts.  

When couscous is done, add spinach mixture and roasted tomatoes. Toss together and serve. Sprinkle top with parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!